Lucia: Gophers going to scoring areas more

Gophers coach Don Lucia gave a state of Gophers speech on Thursday at the Blue Line Club luncheon at Jax Cafe.

Here are some highlights:

"We have really worked hard the last couple months with getting our guys to get in the scoring areas," Lucia said. ".And you know what, you are going to pay a price. You are going to get cross-checked, you are going to get slashed, but you have to be in that position."

"The other thing we have worked hard, before every practice, is getting our defense to shoot, and shoot, and shoot and shoot. We got a group that is probably pass first, shoot second. But you watch the NHL and NHL on the Fly and you see those highlights, and those defensemen are pounding pucks. And how many pucks go off somebody's stick, or knee pad or the opposing team or a skate and end up in the net? Or you are in a position to score on a rebound.

"That's how you are going to score now because people come back. You don't get as many goals off the rush as what used to be because you don't have those odd-man situations. And people backcheck so well to the slot. It is more difficult to create off that.

"Goals are hard to come by and if we could score one more goal a game that would make a big difference."

QUOTES FROM THE DON

* On linemate for Jordan Schroeder and Jacob Cepis: "They are two smaller guys. You probably will have to have somebody with a little bite playing up with them."

Freshman Zach Budish is one possibility. "He is that big body, he can create some space," Lucia said. "He will probably get some time up there with those guys this weekend.

"He is in great shape physically. He is lean, where we want him to be. Now it is just a matter of getting your timing, your hands and everything else because [he] basically went from 11th grade to the WCHA and that is a big jump. But he is going to be a great player. I thought his line played extremely well last weekend [against Harvard]."

* On WCHA: "When you look at the league, we are sitting with 11 wins and Denver is in first place and they have 14 wins overall. Two or three home games that if we could have won, and didn't that first half ot the year, we probably would be right in the position we want to be right now.

"Teams that can score on a regular basis are at the top of the league. UMD has a terrific power play. Jack Connelly is as good as any player in the league right now. They got three, four guys that are scoring consistently. You get to three or four some nights, you are going to win most nights."

"Our shot total on offense has gone way, our shots against have been down. But we will find out a little bit more as we play North Dakota this weekend."

* On North Dakota series: "It should be a great week. [Sioux] haven't been in our building in a couple of years. Part of it is, with the new schedule and more teams, it is going to happen more and more. We will probably only see them three of every five years now in our building. We have to enjoy them the weekends we do have them.

"They've got a very good team. They are obviously very well-coached. They have a high compete. It should be really fun. I am looking forward to this weekend to see how much progress our team has made."

* On Nick Larson, who had two goals last Saturday: "Wasn't that great. Coming out of his senior year of high school, he had a cracked vertebrae in his back and it never healed and he gave up hockey. We didn't think he was going to play again. And that spring he came back and said, 'I want to play.'

"He started working out. But when you take a year off and don't work out. He looked like this litle scrawny guy. [But] he had a skill level and he was a good player. He was terrific last weekend but you could see it coming. We watched him in practice.

"He certainly earned a spot to help kill penalties based on what he is doing in practice right now, blocking shots, because without Taylor [Matson] we lost one of our key penalty killers for the rest of the season. So there are roles and positions to be had and [Larson] is one of those guys that is kind of jumping up and saying I want one of those spots."

* On Erik Haula, signed forward now at Omaha of USHL: "He is having a terrific year at Omaha. He is a Wild draft pick. He has a real high skill level. He is really going to help us. He can play center and he can play left wing. He is a left shot which we need. We are excited that he is going to be part of our program.

"He is one of those kids that -- his dad actually coached some football. His dad liked that new stadium when he came and visited a year ago. So having that football program kind of helped us a little bit.

"Obviously we are not opposed to recruiting kids from outside the state. Actually we have a goalie coming in this weekend that is not from Minnesota., coming in for a visit. We are actively out and looking at kids from outside the state. But we want to find the best player we possibly can. There is obviously more recruiting pressure in our state than ever before with the amount of teams. So there is a lot of options for kids right now."

* On hits to the head: Lucia said junior defenseman Cade Fairchild "got drilled in the head. I talked to Shep [Greg Shepherd, supervisor of WCHA officials] about it after. He said not only should it have been a penalty, it should have been a major. It goes uncalled. Whether it is a penalty or not, the blow still happened.